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Glimpses Of The Future

Although it’s a great idea for science fiction, I consider the idea of deliberately trying to tell aliens that we exist to be extreme folly.

But a new MIT studyoutlines a way to use existing or near-future tech to build a kind of laser lighthouse to signal to our cosmic neighbours. According to the study a high-powered laser used as a beacon could do just that. Any such device would need to be strong enough to outshine the Sun and be detectable from a fairly long distance.

This would be a challenging project but not an impossible one,” says James Clark, author of the study. “The kinds of lasers and telescopes that are being built today can produce a detectable signal, so that an astronomer could take one look at our star and immediately see something unusual about its spectrum. I don’t know if intelligent creatures around the Sun would be their first guess but it would certainly attract further attention.”

The study found two setups that produced the best results: a 2-megawatt laser pointed through a 30-m (98-ft) telescope, and a 1 megawatt laser directed through a 45-m (148-ft) telescope.